VIDEO: Hat-trick by Foden turns the game at Brentford, Citizens return to second place in the table

Manchester City won the final match of the 23rd round of the Premier League, 3-1 at Brentford. The victory was not easy, the home side led until the first half. But then England’s Phil Foden put on a show.

Citizens started actively, the first dangerous shot was sent in the tenth minute by Julian Alvarez, but Mark Flekken coped. The same player fired four minutes later. But the Danish goalkeeper was able to keep out the attempt at the right post.

Kyle Walker’s finish closed out a good quarter of an hour for the favourites, but Flekken cleared that too. The Citizens missed chances were wasted in the 21st minute when Frenchman Neal Maupay scored after a miscommunication in their defence. He scored for the second game in a row.

Erling Haaland could have equalised three minutes later, but Flekken also cleared his shot to the left post. Then Joško Gvardiol and Bernardo Silva failed to score. The former letting the goalkeeper excel, the latter not hitting the net at all.

Gvardiol then missed the target in an even better position. And the misery in the end was supported by Kevin de Bruyne, who only hit the goalkeeper. Still, the Citizens broke the resistance before half-time, with winger Phil Foden celebrating a shot from the rebound.

Foden completed his hat-trick in the second half

An intervention before half-time calmed Manchester down and they turned the tide in the 53rd minute, with Foden again finishing with a header after a pass from Bruyne.

De Bruyne could have given Manchester a calm, but his shot from the edge of the area was just wide of the target. At the other end, when midfielder Christian Norgaard’s attempt was stopped by a block, the unwritten rule of “Can’t score? You get it!”

Haaland knocked the ball down to Foden in the box, who scored a hat-trick with his left foot in front of the goalkeeper. Manchester were enjoying the end, promising chances were still missed by Alvarez and De Bruyne.

Citizens are back to second place in the Premier League table, two points behind Liverpool with a game to spare. Brentford are in 15th place, three points above the relegation zone.

Source: Premier League, X – Canal+ Sport